Ship’s Log – Part 2

Published on October 30, 2025 by kiwisdofly2Leave a comment

Banana Split, Raja Ampat, October 2025

After a challenging 13 hour steam from Sorong to the government mooring buoy at Pulau Kri, we settle into life on the water where things just get better and better!

Tuesday 1300: There was a very strong current ripping through this area, we didn’t get a chance to get off the boat. So we decided to move locations. Pulau Friwen is only 5 miles to the north of here, let’s go check it out.

This was the best decision. We got over there easily, and in day light – though there was localised cloud burst, right on top of us just as we were approaching the island.

Visibility became non-existent and we got soaked. We did a 360° circle to kill a bit of time before coming in closer and finding an anchorage. Then it cleared, as quick as it came, I guess that is the tropics for you! Actually we are only about 30 miles from the Equator here. Our GPS position is 00°28.6’S, 130°41.8’E. It is exciting for me to see 00 degrees, NZ is 37°S latitude, we are soo far north!

1500: We anchored just off the jetty in 19m. We are really close to the village and feel a little self conscious. You know the colour of our boat right? We don’t really hit the brief of “incognito” We hope we don’t upset anyone with being so close.

I can see locals washing their dishes on the shore line

Next minute, who should turn up in a little grey inflatable? our angels, Matt and Jo. It was so good to see them, we hadn’t noticed that one of the other 2 boats anchored in this bay was theirs, Jindarra. It was good to get their advice as they have been here before. They said this was a safe anchorage and the villages are really friendly and wont mind. We are able to repay their kindness with cold beer all round!

Wednesday: We went ashore with Matt and Jo for a walk around the village. There is a primary school on the island and all the kids were coming out for their break. They were so happy to see us.

Local kids loving chatting to the foreigners

This island is only .2 square kilometres in size, no vehicles at all, not even motorbikes. There are a couple of homestays with very basic accommodation right on the beach. This is magical, so unspoilt and natural. I imagine that some of the residents have never left the island, or if they have, then it would be only to the neighbouring islands.

This is also where we met the French family who knew of Antoine and Banana Split – check out our previous story here ↓

https://kiwisdofly.blog/2025/10/14/the-story-of-banana-split/

After lunch Matt takes us all around to the other side of the island in the inflatable to the Friwen Wall for a snorkel. There is a current running here too and the depth is off the scale. We jump into the water and just drift along in the current, taking turns at holding onto the dinghy as she bobbed along beside us.

This is the best dive I have ever done. I have never seen such a variety of colours and shapes of coral like this before. There was a shelf about 1-2 meters wide before a huge drop off, full of so many fish, every colour, shape and size you could imagine. All so curious and playful. They love seeing their reflections in our masks which makes for comical interactions. I would reach out and they dart away. I could have spent all day just watching and playing with them.

The current was gentle, and the water was warm. I didn’t even have fins on. Absolutely out of this world, I felt like I was in a tropical fish tank, it was that beautiful. Bobbing along watching this incredible example of nature at her bery best. Wow, wow and again just WOW!

Photos taken by Jo! The colours were amazing

We decided to go into the water again on the way back around to the boats. And again, stunning! A bit deeper here but just as beautiful as the Wall. I saw the tiny clown fish rubbing themselves amongst the sea anemones just like on Finding Nemo! This was the best day ever!

That evening we had a few drinks on the back of Banana Split and the local children put on a show. They were so funny. Dancing and singing and jumping into the water. They got really brave and swam out to the boat. They were having a ball, giggling and carrying on. It was pouring with rain and they were having the time of their lives. This was a real joy and an experience we will never forget.

Thursday 0700: we say goodbye to Matt and Jo as they head off and we head to Batanta, which is about half way back to Sorong.

We feel like we have struck gold. This bay has anchorages of 15-20 meters and water the colour of gin. It should be quite protected from most winds. Here we can get into the water and cool off right from the boat.

The currents are still quite strong, but we are able to get PugWash down and row ashore. Coconut palms, white sand, clear water, is this paradise? Yes I think so.

We spend 3 nights here at anchor. During each night the wind comes up and there is thunder and lightning one of the nights. So, sleep is still not coming easy. We are both up checking our position several times each night. But by morning and we see that the anchor is still holding well, we relax again and enjoy this remarkable place.

We are approached each day by small boats with young people selling coconuts. We can’t resist; fresh coconut water is just the best. I had said no thank you as politely as I could one time as we already had 2! The boy was so polite and started paddling away. Out of nowhere I pulled out my only Indonesian – Hey! I said, Satu Lagi (one more) the smile nearly broke his face in half, we now have 3. We found an electric drill onboard so were able to get into them.

Saturday 1500: We took PugWash to the beach for a swim and a cold beer. While we were there, the crew from the super yacht we’d spotted up at Kri, which had anchored in the bay the night before, came ashore. We got chatting. There were 4 of the usual 6 crew. Canadian, English, French and a Kiwi! (so proud!) Young people living their best life. The skipper was 26 and had been master of this boat for 3 years! The owner had left the boat a few days earlier. We were super impressed with them all, they are out there doing it and absolutely loving their jobs! Well done team!

The water here is stunning, so warm and clear. At the corner of the island the sand is pure white and the water shallow. It feels like being back in Vieques, bobbing around in the knee deep clear water, this is what it is all about!

Sunday 0700: Anchor up and make way to Sorong. We make good time, 4.5 knots most of the way. 5 hours later we make fast at Tampa Garam Boat Harbour. We are getting better at this Med style mooring. Time to relax and high fives all round – Again! We did it, such a fantastic trip!

We have used all our provisions, and it is so hot back at the marina compared to out at sea. We decided to spend the afternoon at the pool beside the marina.

It is Sunday and the complex is full of local families. We feel like celebrities! We are approached by 3 different groups to get photos/selfies with them. The girls are giggling away as they get brave to come and talk to us. Google translate becomes our best friend. We swap Instagram profiles and share the photos. We even get asked to touch the pregnant one’s belly – to give them good luck. How about that! It has been quite a day – Quite a week!

Thank you for reading our story

Ship’s Log – Part 1

Published on October 29, 2025October 29, 2025 by kiwisdofly21 Comment

Banana Split, Raja Ampat, October 2025

0700 We arrived to see the bright yellow boat nestled in between other yachts at the Tampa Garam Boat Harbour. We were knackered, having done an overnight flight from KL (Air Asia-tiny seats) via a 4-hour layover in Jakarta.

We get ourselves and all our luggage safety on board. This is all so new to us; we have never been on this boat before. We start exploring, turning on switches looking in cupboards, stripping off clothes as it is getting hotter and hotter. We close the fridge and try to get it going but it doesn’t seem to be working. We do a little diagnostics as good as we can given we don’t know where to look. But this is just a boat, right? We have been on boats before; how hard can this be. No luck, this fridge is refusing to cooperate.

By now it is a decent time in France, so we call and talk to the owner, how do you turn the fridge on? We had already found the fridge motor and all looked ok there, all switches we can see are on, Arnaud is none the wiser. In the end we call the Skipper who delivered Banana Split from Australia, and ask him how did he turn the fridge off? Maybe we could retrace his steps in reverse. So, it turns out that there is a separate switch for the fridge, in a faraway place, all on its own, cunningly disguised as the anchor winch switch. Well, you don’t know if you don’t know!

Life is now good; we have the whole boat operational. By now it is afternoon and we are starting to really feel the heat. Then an angel came down from heaven, in the form of the Aussie bloke from the boat next door, in a little grey inflatable – carrying 2 cold beers! What a guy! This was so appreciated, we cannot say. This was Matt, and his wife Jo. They have sailed up from Australia and are sailing around Indonesia and beyond, for as long as it takes; Awesome! After getting some supplies of our own, we took our borrowed dinghy to their boat and spent the evening enjoying their company, swapping our warm beer for cold. This is a fantastic start to our time here in Sorong.

We spend 2 weeks at the marina. Matt and Jo left the day after we arrived. We are busy every day, getting to know the boat, doing a little tidying and sorting and exploring a bit of Sorong.

We decide we should do a day trip, a little shake down, feel the boat. So, we let the lines go and head out for a few hours. All goes well and we like Banana Split, she is a good solid boat and very easy to manoeuvre.

Coming back in is a little challenging. We have never had anything to do with the Mediterranean Mooring system which is used here at Tampa Garam. We had a good plan and had left the stern lines ashore where we could back in and pick them up with the boat hook – easy peasy. And it was. We came in and tied up like pros! High fives all round for us! Great day!

So, with the trial run completed, it is decided that we should go further and see a bit of this amazing part of the world, Raja Ampat. Let’s go for a week. We spent a few more days provisioning the boat and planning our passage.

Sunday 0630: We head out on a course for Mansur and Kri. The weather is a bit overcast which is giving us shade and the sea is very calm with light variable winds. Other boaties around have been saying that there has been no wind to speak of, so they have not been getting their sails up. We don’t know our headsail from our genoa anyway and have no intention of trying to undo all the perfectly tied up sails and sheets and whatever-else-they-are-called. We would never be able to get it all back together again as we found it. Like re-folding a map – I guess you have to be a certain age to understand what that is like!! Anyway, we do not feel out of place motoring along with all sails neatly stowed in their rightful places.

We are making good speed, 4.5 – 4.8knots, 37 miles to travel. Should make it by about 1530. We almost speak too soon, 5 hours into the journey a squall comes out of nowhere. This was not forecasted. The wind is getting up to 20 knots almost right on the nose. We are now only making 2 – 2.5knots. We take a few good greenies over the bow and things start falling all over the place. We were still towing the dinghy as it was so calm but wished we had brought her up on deck. We just have to punch through it and hope it passes soon.

For three hours that squall held right over us. We took a bit of water in through the front hatches, it is a wet bed tonight. PugWash (newly named dinghy) held on like a brave little soldier and finally it calmed.

We made our way to the anchorage we had chosen from the Chart. It is a new chart plotter, so all the values had to be entered. It was Nautical Miles for distance, and I changed the depth from feet to meters. I thought there was something wrong with the settings because the depths were still showing feet – well that is what I thought. It is so interesting how our brains work when you have a belief or an assumption, you just won’t believe anything else. Maybe this area has not been converted into meters yet, I thought? This is so deep; it has to be feet. Areas showing 200m+ Is this for real?? Turns out Yes, definitely meters. The terrain is so steep. It would go from 80+m to 2m in a boat length, just incredible. So, our anchorage is no good – it is 50m deep here – not 50ft. We only have 60m of chain onboard.

OK, plan B.

1730: It will be getting dark soon. We have to make our way around the top of Kri to where there are 2 mooring buoys. It looks a bit shallower over there, so could anchor if the buoys are being used. But there is a reef between us, and it is getting dark. We navigate very slowly between the island and the shallows, watching the chart plotter, and the depth finder as the sun goes down. It was almost high tide which was totally to our advantage. Chris was on the helm, and I was calling the depths as they changed. Chris could see lumps of reef breaking the surface, shining in the dusky light close by. We got to 2 meters for a bit before it deepened again.

There was a super yacht tied up on what we assumed was the mooring from the resort ashore. Just ahead of her was about 20m depth, lets try to anchor there.

1900: It is fully dark. We get the anchor down. Next minute, a Long-boat full of people coming back from a dive, approach us all in a panic, – “go to the buoy, go to the buoy” oh man! It is pitch black, how the heck will we find a buoy now? But we have to try.

We look back now and think it was an absolute miracle that we found that buoy, but it was there, and we pulled it up first try, then settled for 2 nights.

Sleep didn’t come easily that night, the mooring line made noises we were not used to.

What the mooring buoy looks like in the morning

The next day we tidied up, dried everything out and rested after the ordeals of the journey.

Thank you for reading part 1 of our story, part 2 is coming soon, with loads more photos and heaps more fun!

The Story Of Business Class Travel And Indonesian Customs

Published on September 30, 2025 by kiwisdofly2Leave a comment

Our next adventure begins. It was quite the trip from NZ which started with a very special treat – we flew business class. We were told that once you had flown business class you will never be able to go back to cattle class. It was such a great experience. I know exactly what was meant by that statement.

Arriving at Auckland Airport we went straight to priority check in and bag drop, immediately following that was an “Invitation” to go to the lounge. Ok, yes please! We have 3 hours until take off and we feel like kiddies in a lolly shop. Where do we start?

There is cooked breakfast on offer, a barista making coffee, all pastries and cakes you could dream of, and a full bar. 1 plate, 2 plate, 3 plate, oh hang on, here comes lunch! The mandatory glass or 2 of bubbles, even though it is only 10am. Oh this is lovely. We took a seat right by the window looking down at the departure lounge. Passengers waiting for flights, sitting on plastic seats, trying to get comfortable drinking cuppuccino’s out of takeaway cups – this is usually us by-the-way.

That was just the lounge! Now we get onto the plane. First to be called, down a seperate skybridge that I never even knew existed! Into our own little area on the plane. We have our own cubicle with a sliding hatch between us. Duvet, sheet and real pillow. A footrest with room to stretch right out into a bed. This is going to be good.

The Crew are amazing. Right there every step of the way making sure there is nothing we need; nothing is too much trouble. The meals come with linen tablecloth, proper cutlery and glass glasses – which, it seems, were never empty! My crew looked so disappointed when I said no to Champaign, a Sauvignon blanc would be just fine thank you – to be fair, he did not know I had already had 3 glasses of Champaign in the lounge! After the first meal, a little Baileys perhaps? how about a 12 year old malt whisky sir? Oh it would be very rude not to!

It was so very comfortable in our little cocoons. It was wonderful to get our feet right up. It was an 11 hour flight to Kuala Lumpur. We did not get the swelling in our legs that we usually do. It was the best thing for my ankle, as I am still having issues with swelling and stiffness. I think it would have been a lot harder with out the feet elevation.

It was very cool to lie right down and snuggle into the duvet, turn off the light and try to go to sleep. BUT, I was just too excited to sleep, just as well this was a day time flight. So nice to have the choice though. Imagine having this luxury every long haul!

So I sit up again, reclining in my wonderfully comfortable seat. I felt like a Queen. Another glass of wine perhaps, or something else to eat Miss Donna? Oh my Gosh, I could so get used to this.

3 nights back in one of our favourite cities, Kuala Lumper. We stayed at a usual spot in China town and reacquainted ourselves with the wonderful smells and food.

Kuala Lumpur

A few pieces of navigation equipment to pick up for Banana Split took us out to Port Klang. 45 minutes drive from the city. It took an hour to do the “deal”, sign the papers, pay the man, collect receipts, then the driver took us back. Now to readjust the packing to get it all in. We only had to buy 5kg extra baggage for each flight. It was an interesting exercise as you buy by the kilo, not by bag. Perfect for us carrying what we had. We ended up with 3 bags – well one was just a big box. As you tag your bags, the weigh scale counts down your allowance. That was concern No.1, will we get away with the allowance? – yes! Easy peasy.

Concern No.2, getting said equipment into Indonesia. We landed at Jakarta airport. We had the right documentation, but alas, we were called into the office with the very official man asking quite a few questions. The guy on the x-ray machine said “is there something you want to tell me?” and pointed to the x-ray of the box. We were carrying a radar dome, he had no idea what it could be. Through the screen it really looked like something from outer space. I was visualising us being on the Indonesia version of Border Patrol – “do you know the contents of your bag?”…… All was good though. We had a laugh with the man in the office, right before he socked us between the eyes with the bill – he charged us 10% duty, 11% VAT and 10% Income Tax – yes Income Tax as we are not Indonesian citizens, then sent us on our way.

That piece of equipment was the sacrificial lamb, with a bit of clever accounting we got away with a fairly low bill. It could have been 3 times that amount. They were also so interested in the Navigation equipment, they forgot to ask about the brand new dive gear we were also carrying. Job Done!

Next flight, Jakarta to Sorong, 4 hour flight leaving at 1210 am, where is our business class now??

This part was easy, our faithful driver Neddy was waiting for us at Sorong and took us to Tampa Garam Marina where we found Banana Split. This is a small marina with no berths as such. It is a small rectangle of water with 8 vessels tied up in the Mediterranean style mooring system.

It was 0630, and though the manager knew we were arriving today, there was no one around. A quick discussion on how to get out to the boat as our dinghy is on the boat; not helpful. A call to the manager, who offered us to use the one tied up down at the other end of the marina, it has no oars; but there is 1 paddle.

There she is – Banana Split; our home for 3 1/2 weeks

We manage to get us and all our equipment safely onboard. Wow this is cool, we are back on a boat!! Now the real fun begins!

Thank you for reading our story

This Is Better Than Flying!

Published on February 29, 2024 by kiwisdofly2Leave a comment

The story of the Cruise Ship – It just gets better and better!!

We feel we are lucky to have chosen this transatlantic crossing as our first cruise. It is 11 days long and we will not hit another port until we get to Miami. That is a lot of days to be at sea, nothing to do but be on the boat. It is a re-location voyage; this ship goes on to cruise the Caribbean for the season. No ports? Perfect for us as we feel that it has really given us a chance to get to know the boat. If this had only been 5 days for example, we would not have discovered all the hidden gems that we have done. We have walked and explored every corner of this ship. There is so much to see and do. We have loved every minute.

The weather has not been the best, but as we progress toward USA, the outside temperatures are getting higher. We were in fog for at least one whole day where every 2 minutes there was a 5 second blast on the horn – fog signal. Once the fog cleared the drizzle started and the swell got bigger and bigger. 10-meter seas, 40 knot winds, she got a bit rocky there for a while, about 3 days at its worst. The captain gives an update every morning at 10am and this is normal for the North Atlantic Ocean. We knew the weather was coming up when we saw the vomit bags being put out at the stair wells at every level.

The Observation lounge is one level above the bridge and has a fabulous view forward. We would sit up there and watch the ship riding up and down the swells. This is a huge ship, yet we managed to spray water up and over the bow as we dipped into the troughs and ploughed up and through the wall of water ahead – exhilarating! Each time another big swell came there was a collective “wow” from all watching, followed by nervous giggles! Day 8 the wind dropped to around 20 knots, and as we have been travelling at a constant 17knots, it is felt a lot calmer. This was just one day; the wind has been around 40 knots for most of the trip.

When we left Southampton, we did not expect to see land again until we came into Miami. On the evening of day 3 we had an announcement to say that there was a medical emergency, and someone needed to go to hospital so we would be altering our course to go to Azores Islands to medivac the patient. They were not sure at this stage whether we would go in and dock or stay off and transfer the patient by boat. We were a long way off these islands so would not arrive until 0500 in the morning. Of course, I had to get up to see this!

0445 I got up and could see the lights of the island in the distance. We stopped just outside the harbour of Ponta Delgarda. It was dark, but you could see the beach not far from us. The captain kept position using the starboard thrusters, the wind was pushing against our port side. The pilot boat approached and came alongside beautifully, and they loaded the poor man from the lower deck in a stretcher. He was waving so I felt happy that he was at least conscious and aware of what was going on, we never did find out what actually happened to him. The Pilot boat left, and we slowly moved off and headed back on our way. The diversion was a welcome change and something quite different. I was fascinated in the while process, having been involved in this sort of operation back in New Zealand. It was great work by all involved, very efficient and professional.

The lights of the Azores
Our diversion track around the islands

This ship can carry 3800 passengers and 1600 crew. We have heard that there are only 1000 passengers onboard! So that means there are more crew than passengers! We feel, again, so lucky that this is the case as it is not crowded at all. We try to imagine how different it would be with another, near enough, 3000 people on board. But as we have never done this before, we don’t have anything to compare.

The sun is out, so we have to try – its only 19 degrees and so windy!

There are over 13 bars – (we know because we pub-crawled 13 all in one day – took 8 hours, but that is a story for another day!!) There are 11 restaurants, a casino, car racing track, kids water slides, swimming pools, a library, cigar lounge, theatre, full spa, art gallery and shopping mall selling the best diamonds in the world. It has to be seen to be believed. There are millions of dollars’ worth of paintings onboard, Dürer, Dali and Rembrandt just to name a few. Full on art auctions are taking place under our noses. The bars all have themes, the Beatles are at the Cavern club, whisky “by the jar” at the Maltings, Mojito’s at the Sugarcane or 70 different craft beers at the Brewhouse. You want cocktails with breakfast – feel free, its all here, and no one will judge!! Gives new meaning to the concept of day drinking.

Half way through our pub crawl – we are still looking ok!!

The food is incredible. We have tried all the restaurants that are part of our package and they do not disappoint. Whether we have A la Carte or the buffet, the food quality is sensational. We had one meal at the steakhouse as it was part of our “specialty dining package” OH MY, WORD! 5-star dining, 500g steak perfectly cooked, 4 courses, outstanding! And it is free! We are still so blown away by what is on offer, and we continue to pinch ourselves every day.

The Garden Café is the buffet restaurant and is the typical buffet style with multiple dishes of many cuisines. They usually have a different theme each night or a specific roasted meat. Rib Eye, pork, lamb, chicken and turkey, its all been pretty good. We are certainly not going without our protein! One night they were advertising “Steamship” as the specialty. We asked, what is this? Beef, they said. Ok lets have a look. Have you ever seen a whole cow leg roasted? Well, that is what Steamship is. We could not believe our eyes at the size of this roasted piece of meat, complete with bone out of the top! 10 hours cooking at 120 deg apparently, and it was delicious.

The staff are so friendly, everyone has a smile and hello. I have been amazed to see the natalities of the staff. Everyone’s name badge has where they are from. I read somewhere that the crew are made up of over 50 different nationalities. It is a wonderful mix. Evening 10 after the Broadway Cabaret, a huge collection of the staff came onto the stage for a farewell. Representatives from every part of the ship from the engine room, catering, housekeeping, retail, bar and restaurant, to the captain, were there. As they filed out, up the stairs of the theatre we were able to say thankyou and show our appreciation. As we then filed out of the theatre, they were all there, almost as a guard of honour, thanking us! I was quite overcome by this gesture; this could almost be my highlight of the trip.

We have not spent much time out on deck because of the weather. We thought that we would start getting better weather by the time we were a few days out from Miami. Surprisingly this was not the case. The temperature got up to 20°C on the last day, but the wind was still cold. The pools remained closed and half empty until day 8, a small handful of brave soles got in.

not a lot going on out on deck

We were at sea for 11 days, I saw 2 other boats on day 11, we had our Medi-vac on day 4, but other than that we have not seen any other signs of life besides what is here on this ship. It has been so peaceful. We have been able to find quiet spots and been able to relax and just ponder this amazing planet and the enormity of the ocean in front of us which is 5km deep right here. Watching the ever-changing clouds and the colours, the swells and currents. The gentle hum of the engines underfoot and the slight sideways rock is reassuring as we make our way towards land.

7752km behind us is Southampton.

This really is so much better than flying!

Thank you for reading our story!!

Kuala Lumpur In May

Published on June 22, 2023 by kiwisdofly25 Comments

It is hard to believe we have spent another year house sitting. From New South Wales in Australia, to Puerto Rico, then Thailand to India. That was 2022 – done ^TICK

A few months back down under to regroup and reset with friends and family and we are off again.

We have decided to do things a bit differently this year. Each year we have been house sitting we have started at the beginning, gone from house sit to house sit and made our way from one country to the next, optimising our time and following a course which eventually leads us back to New Zealand, about a year later. This year we will return to Australia between big trips. So this trip will only be 3 months long.

So start in Malaysia, only a nine hour flight from Queensland Australia where we have been recently based.

KLIA Express, direct from the airport to Sentral Station

First stop Kuala Lumpur, one of our favourite cities. We are very excited to be back in Malaysia. The food is outstanding and the people are always so warm and welcoming. We stayed in a small basic hotel right outside the main entrance of the NU Sentral Mall, which is part of Sentral Station. The public transport is so efficient and really easy to understand. It is a very simple commute from KLIA international airport straight to Sentral Station, and right to our accommodation. The warmth and smells that great us are overwhelming, sparking fond memories – WE ARE BACK!

We had 3 nights here, re acquainting ourselves with the cuisine. Eating our way around all our old favourite places. We were very close to the Indian quarter and found restaurants with all the Indian delicacies we were enjoying while in Chennai.

Kuala Lumpur is a super modern city, but still holds the charm of the old world. China Town and Little India are like walking back in time, yet you go to the Petronas Twin Towers or the Berjaya Times Square and you are immediately transported to the, almost , futuristic state-of-the-art centres with everything on steroids! We love both, maybe erring on the side of the oldie-worldie but loving the super modern, bright and shinny too.

We spend a lot of time walking around and pointing out places we have been before, restaurants we have been in, 7Elevens we have frequented and found the cheapest beer. But also discovering new things, new sights, especially as we have not been here since COVID and we do notice a change. China Town seemed very quiet now – still busy by our terms, but not that frantic business that was the total manic vibe of the place. There were not as many street hawkers or market stalls. Our old ladies pushing carts full of ice and cold drinks were nowhere to be found. It must have been pretty tough here during the pandemic, very sad.

China Town
Petronas Twin Towers
Brickfields Little India

In amongst the chaos of this busy incredible city is the Botanical Gardens. A beautiful piece of green-belt right there, hidden away from the madness. We spent a few hours here and thoroughly enjoyed the change of pace. It is a little run-down in places, but still a great respite from the heat (in all ways) of the city.

It’s a lot hotter here than what we have been used to for the last few months, we are very thankful for our air conditioning in our room. It’s a welcome relief to get onto the trains for the cool of their air conditioning. It is so cheap to ride the trains and as I said, so easy! Just have to find the right train line you want to go on, use the touch screen to say where you want to go and boom, out comes a little blue token and off you go! All over the city, anywhere you want to go for about equivalent to $1.

A few nights back here is like coming home, it had to be done, but we have puppies to look after!

Our next stop is Langkawi, an Island off the west coast right up by the Thailand border. We have been there once before for a week vacation, this time we will be there for 2 months. We love the city, but we have had our fill, lets slow our pace down a bit and get ourselves back to some Island Time!

See you in Langkawi!

Thank you for reading our story 🙂

A Photographic Journey Through Our Neighbourhood In Chennai

Published on December 30, 2022December 30, 2022 by kiwisdofly210 Comments

We have been in Chennai for three weeks now and feel we know our way around this area quite well. We are house sitting in Besant Nagar, right in the heart of Chennai, Southern India. We arrived at the awful hour of midnight, but still, our awesome home owner was there waiting for us. We are so grateful for this as we feel the worst part of the travel is getting to your first nights accommodation, where ever you land in the world.

It is always so exciting to meet new people and this is no exception. We ended up spending a couple of hours chatting, we met the two lovely cats and finally crashed.

We had he whole day with Shoba as she showed us around the neighbourhood and introduced us to Southern Indian cuisine with a fabulous breakfast at the end of the road. She educated us in some of the protocols of dining, ie eating with your fingers – right hand only, straight off the banana leaf. She showed us where to get groceries, and where to get beer. She introduced us to a few of her friends who speak English well, just in case we need a bit of help. It was a great introduction and we felt ready to tackle this completely foreign place ourselves.

A lot of the housing is so old, probably never changed in 100’s of years

Cows today, you never know what you are going to see on the street from one day to the next. 90% of women wear the traditional Saree, the colours are exquisite.

Little shops, the size of a decent wardrobe in NZ, jam packed with “stuff” No room to swing a cat, as they say.

Its not easy to walk down the road. There is so much stuff on the pavement. You have to constantly zig zag around piles of cement, motorbikes, ladies tying flowers, rubbish, dogs, cows, tree roots, dislodged man hole covers and, of course, other people, standing OR sleeping. You don’t only have to watch where you put your feet but you must keep an eye upward to dodge the tree limbs and all manner of wiring hanging down. We are getting good at the “Chennai shuffle” where its a little dance over the rubble and the broken concrete, dodging things you would rather not get on the bottom of your shoes, off the road, on the road, listening with both ears to determine whether the horns you are hearing are meant for you, telling you “I’m coming through- watch out!” There is one corner right by us which we have named “suicide corner” you really do take you life into your own hands when trying to cross, but we are getting better at it.

Hazy sky today, sun just peeping through

Besant Nagar Beach and Elliot’s Beach are a 10 – 15 minute walk. There is always a breeze so its nice to get down there most days. It is not like a beach we are used to though. It is not really safe to swim. There is a steep drop off and the waves can be really dumpy and there always looks to be a rip. It is also not very clean, so you can imaging how Chris is feeling with an ocean at his finger tips and unable to get wet. Its funny watching the locals, there is always a crowd around and they love taking selfies in front of the sea. They often go in with their shoes on and their jeans and dresses, and even Sarees, get wet up to their knees. Lots of laughing and fun, its great to watch.

There are communities living right on the beach. Lots of fishing boats are sitting on the sand outside tiny, makeshift houses, some still with thatched rooves and sometimes just tarpaulins.

It is so sad to see the amount of rubbish on the beach

Oh the food is amazing!! I always thought Thai cuisine was my favourite but I am tending toward Indian now. Every bite explodes in your mouth. From the Idly and Dosa for breakfast and the Biryani for lunch to the deep, rich curries for dinner – we are loving it all. And eating with your fingers adds a new dimension. It is also very very cheap to eat out. There is no point in trying to cook at home. The street we are living on has so many restaurants and eating places, little coffee houses but no bars. We are always the only western people but we are now getting recognised and we have our own regular table at one place. A lot of the curries are not recognisable to us by name, so we just take pot luck and are never disappointed. 2 coffees and 4 pastries with curried chicken or veg inside, $2 NZD! And the pastry! WOW, who knew that Indians could bake that well, any Frenchman would be delighted to have one!

I mentioned no bars. Well, hardly any bars, and the few that are around are fairly well hidden. It has taken a bit of work but with much determination, we have found a couple. They are usually up stairs, away from the public eye, very dark and secretive. You have to give names and phone number and show identification to get in. OK cool, we have got a handle on that, what about a bottle store or off licence? Now that has been a challenge. The only place you can get alcohol in the state of Tamil Nadu is at a TASMAC (government owned alcohol shop) Shoba took us to one on the first day and we have since located another two.

The first one we found on our own took three passes up the street, even with referring to google maps. In the end we asked a guy and he pointed up a narrow corrugated iron alley way leading to the back of the shops. In there, there was a window to order from, there were a few leaners where a few guys must have been standing there all day, no women except for the beggar. We got a six pack and high-tailed it out of there, very cloak and daggers! Just by chance we found another one, a bit better than the other one, not too far up our street. Chris has been a couple of times now and every time the price is different – So funny, but it does mean we can have a beer here in the apartment on the balcony, just perfect!

A day at the Government Museum was fantastic. The buildings themselves were museum pieces. Great exhibits and a fun day out.

Taking an Auto around the place is a total adventure in itself. It is not unlike a theme park ride. The drivers are amazing. Where they can put these little yellow, three wheeled machines is nothing short of miraculous. Zipping here and there, in and out of the traffic, toot toot, we are coming through, left side of the road, no, right side of the road, see a gap go for it, toot toot, jam on the breaks. And when the traffic is less, on a two lane road, lets just drive on the white line, right down the middle and cover all bases! Lets take the extreme outside, no no, lets cut the corner, take the inside – Crazy!!

St Mary’s Anglican Church at Fort Saint George 1680

We had another nice day at the Fort Saint George and looked at the modern stone memorial and tomb for the former Tamil Nadu chief minister MG Ramachandran (1977-1987)

We are having a blast here in Chennai. It has opened our eyes to many things and we are so thankful to be able to be here to experience this very special part of the world.

Thank you so much for reading our story!

Back In The Land Of Roti

Published on November 29, 2022 by kiwisdofly21 Comment

Indonesia and Malaysia

After almost 7 months on a house sit in the Caribbean, it is time for catching up with friends and having a holiday. We had a fabulous week in Boston, now lets head to South East Asia.

We are going to Jakarta to visit with a friend we met 5 years ago, while in between house sits, on Pangkor Island, Malaysia. Pangkor is predominantly Muslim, and we were finding it difficult to find beer. The strip of restaurants had entrances on the roadside but they also had entrances from straight from the beach, they went right through. You could sit at the tables on the sand out the back, very cool. We had just walked into this one place, to find, yet again – no beer. We pretended to look at the beach and then, as we turned to leave, a voice came out of the shadows, “hey bro, you can get beer at the shop over there” What? Who was that? And how did he know what we were looking for? We had a good laugh about this and arranged to meet him later at the beach for a few beers (bought from that 1 shop). We ended up having dinner together and Chris and Nitin have remained good friends ever since. We have tried a few times in the last five years to catch up again but one thing and another got in the way – COVID was one rather large thing. But here we are flying 14.5 hours from Boston to Tokyo, change planes and another 8 hours to Jakarta. Arriving at midnight, Nitin was there, bouncing with excitement, and so were we! So good to be here!

We had a wonderful week catching up on the last five years… We ate so much wonderful food – oh how we have missed Asian food! AND we didn’t have any problems finding beer! Nitin looked after us so well, took us to amazing restaurants, we met his parents and girlfriend and felt like part of the family. Nitin’s Mum taught us how to make Chapati and I showed her how to make the bread like I had learnt on Vieques. We followed this “sharing of knowledge” with a wonderful family meal. We had six days of great laughs and loads of fun!

We are very sad to leave but so thankful, yet again, for these wonderful people coming into our lives in the most unexpected ways!

Now up to Penang, Malaysia for a week of rest.

We are staying in a little place called the Rassa Motel, at Batu Ferringhi Beach. Very basic but at $30NZD a night we cannot complain. One street back from the beach. We have stayed here before and know the location is perfect. AND, it is just around the corner from the best Roti restaurant in Malaysia – according to the “Donna and Chris research group”. So, every morning we would walk around the corner and see the Roti maker and enjoy our favourite breakfast with thick dark coffee with a splash of condensed milk – match made in heaven!.

We went for a walk up to a waterfall one morning after our Roti. The track got smaller and smaller, but we were confident that we would find our way and maybe even join up with a walk along the aqueduct, which we did last time we were in Penang. Well it did, but not until we passed through a hole in a padlocked gate. What could possibly go wrong? It was a lovely walk, and we end up in the area that we recognise. Cute buildings periodically along the trail. An Aqueduct will move water by gravity flow alone and this one is still channelling raw water to a treatment plant in Tanjung Bungah.

But we were not meant to be there-apparently! So that was what the lock on the gate meant…. A car of 4 guards drove by and stopped and asked where we were from……..

New Zealand!

No, where have you come from, you shouldn’t be here!

Oh OK.

Leave now!

Yes sir!

We reached the entrance after 17000 steps to be met by a police officer who gestured for us to go back, go back the way you came! Really? Sending us back into a restricted area for another hour and a half? You cannot come out this way! He relented in the end and let us out, whoops! Our host at the hotel said that it has been closed since COVID. We really did think there for a minute that we were going to have to walk another 17000 steps, but thankfully that was not the case – it was a great walk!

After 6 nights at Batu Ferringhi we took the hair raising bus trip to Georgetown for 1 night before we take the ferry to the mainland to get the overnight train to Thailand. A walk around the old town of Georgetown is a must not miss! The street art and old buildings are fantastic. Great markets and food halls and very safe.

As we check out we bump into a man from Pakistan. He was checking out too. He said “are you going to Langkawi?” we said no, we are going to Thailand. He said “oh, we want to go to Thailand, we will follow you!” Then him and is 3 friends did indeed, follow us to the ferry. It was all a bit confusing about where they were trying to get to, but they liked the idea of Krabi (Thailand) – but they kept saying they were going to Langkawi (Malaysia) Oh well, they were big boys. They were so funny and casual about where they were going to end up. They came on the ferry with us and then, after a 4 hour wait at the train station, came on the Komuter train to the Thai border, that is where we lost them. I would love to know where they ended up. Chris asked them if they liked beer – if they were going to Langkawi, it is a dutyfree town. Oh no, we don’t drink! Then one of the guys sidled up to Chris and whispered….. “I like alcohol” he said he had half a bottle of vodka in his suitcase, would he be able to take it with him across the border? Poor man! Oh we laughed at this for days.

The Malaysia – Thailand border at Padang Besar is interesting. You line up and go through passport control to exit Malaysia, then walk around the back of the offices and line up again to go through another passport control, in the opposite direction, back into the same hall, to enter Thailand. There is a fence between that you cannot get through, but it is right there, it’s all in the same space. The guy who stamped our passport leaving Malaysia had forgotten to change the date on his stamp so had us leaving the day before. We got escorted, bags and all, back around the offices, back to the immigration officer for a correction in our passport. Meanwhile, the train was sitting there ready to leave and the conductors were being told there are 2 more passengers, don’t go without them! This has been the most bazar trip!

Finally on our way to Thailand!

We are on our own now, no family or friends with us and we spend a lot of time talking and thinking of all the wonderful people in our lives. We are grateful to the friends we are making during this adventure, and the friends we can reconnect with while travelling. We also take the time to think about and feel so thankful for the ones at home. Our wonderful friends up and down New Zealand and Australia, our families who love and support us in these, sometime crazy adventures. We miss you so much and so appreciate your love and understanding that we are not in your lives day to day. Some of our friends and family are struggling with illness, loss and other things that life sometimes throws at you. We don’t forget this and hope that we can help out, as best we can, when or if the time is right. The world has become a smaller place with the ease of communication, and although we keep in touch via messages, facebook, emails and calls, we understand that it is not the same as being there. xxxx

Thank you for reading our story!

Puppies In Planes and A Week In The States

Published on November 18, 2022 by kiwisdofly2Leave a comment

It is now November 2022. We have just spent the last seven 7 months on the island of Vieques, Puerto Rico, which is in the Caribbean. We are leaving the island with a few tears as we say goodbye to many people we have come to love and will sorely miss.

But, this is the end of only 1 chapter in the book of our adventures, AND as we leave the island we have this amazing little distraction – a tiny puppy called Iain.. While here on Vieques, we have been walking the dogs for the Vieques Humane Society and we offered to transport a pet needing to be taken to USA. We were thrilled to hear, four days before we were leaving, that there was indeed a little puppy that needed to go to Boston to a foster family to wait for his forever home.

A very welcome distraction indeed! And the best little travel companion. Iain was so chilled, he took to the car ride, ferry ride, trip to dinner and another long car ride to San Juan airport, all in his stride. We arrived at the airport at 9pm, our flight was not leaving until 5am, so we had a very long wait. The time went by very fast with Iain to keep us entertained. He was so popular, everyone wanted to give him a pat. So, we were able to, mostly, kept him awake. When we finally got onto the plane, he was so exhausted, he just went to sleep in his carry cage under the seat in front of me. When he woke, he sat on my knee and snugged back to sleep again – until the steward discovered him – ooops! “He must be in his cage for the duration of the flight” – but look at this little face!! Cant he just stay on my knee?

We arrived in Boston 4 hours later. Iain’s foster family were waiting and fell in love the minute they saw him, and then he was gone! We have heard since that he has found his forever home already and is a very loved member of the family. It was so cool to have been part of that story!

We have a week here in the north east of America. A few days in Boston, a few days in Kennebunk then back to Boston to fly out to Jakarta. This part of the trip was primarily for seeing friends. We were so lucky to be able to borrow Pam’s car to drive up to Kennebunk to see Joan. It was perfect as it meant we could take her out and about while there. We got to see part of the New England coast too, which was so beautiful.

It was so much colder than what we had been used to, we only have hot weather clothes with us! So as soon as we arrived in Boston, Pam and Kim opened up their wardrobes and said go for it! Fleeces and sweaters, jackets and thermals! Girls! you are life savers!!

We had one spare day so took the train up to a small town called Salem. As it is Halloween next week, this was quite a timely visit to the home of witch trials and superstition. The whole town is dedicated to the “scary” . More than 200 people were accused of being witches between 1692 and 1693. 30 were found guilty and 19 were executed by hanging right there in Salem. It was the deadliest “witch hunt” in the history of colonial North America.

Pam and Kim live in central Boston, but they have a holiday home at Cape Cod, would we like to go? Hell yes!! The four of us pile into the car and travel the 2 hours to the Cape. Wow! We were so lucky to have this opportunity! Cape Cod and Provincetown are so beautiful and we were blessed with perfect weather! We ate so much and drank far too much! We had so much fun. Their house is right on the beach. There are oyster farms along the coastline and Chris managed to find some rogue oysters in ankle deep water. They were immediately shucked and eaten with a cold beer to wash them down. It was a beautiful warm day. It still really amazes me how this part of the world can get so very hot in the summer time and then turn around and be frozen solid, snow up to the window ledges and frozen water pipes come winter – it is so hard to imagine.

It is only days before Halloween and there was a “Tea Party” on in Provincetown the weekend we were there. So we, all four, dressed up in kind-of-scary but really it was just kind-of-crazy-pretty – yes even Chris! It was so much fun dressing up and doing fake face tattoos, we had a ball! Some of the costumes people were in were amazing, there had been a lot of effort put in and it was so much fun! It was a different story in the morning-we had all sorts of hilarity when we tried to get the tattoos off our faces! Then …. more oysters, more wine in the sun and then back to Boston – we have a plane to catch!

What a weekend! We haven’t laughed this much in a long time! Pam and Kim!! You rock!

Now it’s off to South East Asia, Thank you for reading our story, we hope you can join us for the next one….. coming soon xxx

Is This The Caribbean Or The Mediterranean?

Published on October 1, 2022 by kiwisdofly2Leave a comment

One of the most fun things about travelling is trying new cuisine.

We have a Kiwi friend Kim, who has lived here on Vieques for nearly two decades. He comes for coffee fairly regularly and I could just about guarantee that every time, we end up talking about food. Some of the conversation is about what we miss from home and remembering the things we had as kids – Back in the Day. But more often than not its about the cuisine we have sampled with our travels around the world. If you were to sit outside our window during these conversations you would hear a lot of groaning and sighing as we all reminisce about the flavours we have tried and loved over the years. Thai food is up there, with their distinct pungent flavours, right alongside the amazing bread and cheese of France! But lately Souvlaki and Feta cheese has been on our minds and a plan was hatched.

To read more about our food experiences – check out the link below https://kiwisdofly.blog/2020/01/25/when-in-rome/

So here we are, in the middle of the Caribbean and we managed to pull off the best Greek dinner! What made it even more spectacular was that we found enough of the right ingredients to make it work.

Sarah found feta cheese for a Greek inspired couscous/chick pea salad, with the fresh flavours of cucumber and lemon. Kim found real Greek yoghurt to make enough Tzatziki to last the rest of the month. Betsy even found filo pastry and made the most amazing filo cones with Greek style custard and cream filling and orange zest – yes oranges!

There are no Greek style pita bread here on the island so we made our own, with great success I might add! Add some home made hummus and babaganoush made with zucchini’s (only had to visit 2 stores to get those) and sliced aubergine – BOOM!

Pork marinated in oregano, lemon and olive oil was our souvlaki, char-grilled perfectly and served on a bed of red onions.

We dressed in white or blue for the occasion-a huge success, our Greek friends would be proud!.

If you have read any of my other stories you will have already heard me say that it is the people we meet while travelling that make this adventure so special. The meeting of cultures, beliefs, traditions and outlooks. We had this around the table last night, American, Irish, Cuban, Puerto Rican and of course us Kiwis (which actually outnumbered the rest) fascinating conversations, hilarious stories. Life time friends have been made here and our lives are so much richer for it. It will be hard to leave in a few weeks, but sadly, that is part of the deal.

So much fun! Who would ever think we could pull off a full on Greek meal on this tiny island of Vieques in the middle of the Caribbean!

Note: Not plates were harmed / broken in the making of this story!

The Skies Over Vieques

Published on September 15, 2022March 12, 2025 by kiwisdofly22 Comments

We are here on this tiny island as if in a time warp. The time goes by so fast. One minute it’s the weekend and then the next it is Friday night again, how does that happen? We have 6 weeks left of this house sit, we have been here for over 5 months already!

I sit here on my deck chair under a coconut trees shade, at Caracas beach. This is one of our favourite places on the island. Not because it is the most beautiful, there are some spectacular beaches, I think it is because we have the best memories here. Last time we only had bike power for getting around and this was the best beach we could reach by bike – still a 9 km cycle over the spine of the island. We were so much fitter then! And it is just as memorable now. The water is as clear as crystal, gently lapping on the perfectly white sand. The sky is deep blue and the clouds are so white.

Today is very quiet. It is Sunday, it is usually “Sunday Fun-day”, where crowds of friends and family gather for a day at the beach. Bringing with them BBQ’s, hammocks, cooler boxes groaning with food and alcohol, chairs, tables and gazebos and music. That’s what we are missing today – Music! The thump thump thump of the Puerto Rican rhythm. It is very distinctive and very conspicuous in its absence.

This is the off season. Not many tourists come to the island at this time of the year and a lot of the businesses close down for a month – 6 weeks. Holiday rentals shut down, restaurants and bars, some tour operators, it is very quite. The supermarket and the roads reflect this. The fruit truck doesn’t have as much to offer at the moment. We didn’t notice this the last time here as we had just had Hurricane Irma, it was a very different place then.

It is so hot! I have just been reading through my story of the last time here. It got to “feels like” 46°C then! It hasn’t got to that this time – well not that I have captured! So hot though. You can’t have a cold shower because the water out of the cold tap is always warm. I am sweating buckets every day! It drips off my chin and runs in my eyes, and that is just going outside to the washing line! The temperatures are so consistent, 27deg – 31deg every day! When we have a bit of rain we celebrate! But then if it rains for more than a day, everything starts to feel damp, your clothes, bed sheets, cushions even the floor. And my hair!! Humidity frizz! I would like to make it a new fashion statement, but no one in their right mind would want this! So, the best thing for it is to get into the ocean. The water temperature is 29.3°C – I just looked it up. Slightly cooler than the air temperature. Though I would like to challenge this. We have a hot tub – yes, it’s true!! here at the house and it is constantly sitting at 32°C and that is with no heating, just the ambient temperature and I am sure the ocean is warmer than that tub.

We are smack bang in the middle of hurricane season, in fact the peak of hurricane season was on Saturday. It has been really quiet this year, so much so that, for the first time in 25 years, there have been no named storms during August. But we are still feeling a bit nervous to be honest! There are lots of different web pages and Facebook groups that we keep an eye on as we know that there is always a bit of notice if there is something coming our way that we need be aware of. We have been collecting water and have bought extra canned and dried foods just in case we do lose power. It was 5 years ago this week that Irma came through, caused 10 days of power outage then 4 days later Maria made an appearance and…… well…… that was power, and water gone for quite some time. We have bought a GPS tracker which can also send messages through the satellite system if standard communication is lost. We have done a couple of tests and it works well. Having all communication gone was one of the hardest things to cope with. We were alive a relatively well, but family on the other side of the world did not know this. Tough times, don’t really want to go through that again!

For our Hurricane story and photos, check out the link below

https://kiwisdofly.blog/2019/10/05/a-trip-back-in-time-the-hurricane-story-part-1/

There has been a lot of Sahara dust most of the time we have been here. They say that this dust, which blows all the way from the deserts of Africa, helps to ward off hurricanes. It chokes out the systems, and they don’t have enough moisture to keep going, then a hurricane can’t form. Though the dust is a pain in the butt-ocks, makes it hazy and the windows get filthy, we like the idea of it being our “hurricane angel”

Being on a rock of 135m2, sandwiched between the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, makes for interesting weather conditions. I studied weather for my skippers licence a million years ago, we had to recognise and understand clouds, and what they represented for predicting weather……… Well, I didn’t do too well in that section! I can hardly tell one cloud from the other. But I do remember there being the “castle clouds” the Altocumulus Castellanus clouds. I have always wanted to see them; they don’t seem to form in NZ. Here on Vieques there are clouds every day and we often see the Castle Clouds. We don’t usually get just a plain blue sky, like at home, and these clouds here are the whitest I have ever seen. The sky here is amazing, moody and bright, the sunsets and sunrises, the rainbows and clouds are so vibrant and brilliant.

Altocumulus Castellanus clouds take their name from their resemblance to turrets of castles and are often a warning of thunderstorms

Things can be difficult here, but we are all in the same boat. Everyone can’t get that special ingredient to make that dish they want, and that’s after trips to 3 different stores in the hope 1 will have it, and then you pay the earth for it. I needed cream the other day and had a route mapped out of the stores I would try, if I couldn’t get it after store number 6, we would go without. I got it at store number 3!! So glad too because it was for Betsy’s amazing bread pudding!!

Perfect with caramelised banana and whipped cream

Everyone has to wait for months for contractors or parts for broken cars, so many cars are in poor condition because of it. The power goes out and the water slows down for no apparent reason at times, this affects everyone, one Barrio at a time it seems. The fire ants and mosquitos are pretty unbearable, but everyone has them. Oh, the heat and the sweat – we all sweat buckets, it is never offensive and everyone has a sweat rash somewhere! It doesn’t seem to matter here, everyone just gets on with it, you just adjust that recipe or menu to suit what you find at the store, you hold your car together with duct tape. It is just part of the charm of Vieques!

It’s quirkiness is its magic, and we all love it!

It’s a great life here and we feel so privileged to have had not one, but two chances to experience life as a local on Vieques, Puerto Rico. 6 weeks to go and we will be very sad to leave.